All about Tea from Taiwan

Two wild, indigenous tea subspecies, Taiwan Mountain Tea and Red Sprout Mountain Tea, were discovered in Taiwan as early as the 17th century. However, they had little economic value and were not widely used due to their bitter taste and thin, brittle leaves.

More than 200 years ago, some tea trees from Fujian Province in continental China were delivered to Taiwan. It was the beginning of the tea culture in Taiwan.

One of the main events in the life of Taiwan tea is tea competitions.
Ongoing competitions were revived in Taiwan in 1976 after a long break.
The aim was to determine the best tea (local oolongs), investment
raising, teaching of the correct use of tea. A very important aspect was
preservation of high level of Taiwan tea because take part in the
competition could only the best suppliers.

The Cingjing Veterans Farm (Qingjing Veterans Farm / 清境農場) is located near Renai Township of Nantou County. It has been opened to public since February, 1961. Farm is located at level 1750 meters above the sea.

Dayuling (Da Yu Ling) is a mountain area in the middle of Taiwan’s Central Mountain Range. This is the highest place in the country, altitude is more than 2700 meters. The highest tea plantation in the world is located in Dayuling, and you can buy Da Yu Ling oolong tea which grows at the altitude more than 2600 meters in our shop.

Tea production is a series of various steps, which starts with freshly-plucked leaf and ends with dry tea leaves which are ready to brew. Some steps are common for all kinds of tea and (plucking, sorting etc) and other are unique for different kinds of tea. Fermentation is one of them and tea is often described as either not-fermented, semi-fermented or fermented.

A lot of people wonder, why oolong packages, especially expensive, have so unusual weight - 37,5g or 56,25g. At first sight it seems, that such kind of weight doesn't have any sense and more easy offer standard European packages, divisible by 30 or 50 g, or use ounces (28,35g), which are used in USA. But in fact, 37,5g is neither more nor less than 1 tael - Chinese measure of weight, which is used very widely up to now in traditional Chinese medicine and tea trading.

Why are first tea leaves merge from tea? In the dictionary, merge of the first tea leaves is called washing tea. In Chinese, there is the phrase "si cha", which explains as washing, which removes impurities from tea, to fully open the flavor. So why we need to wash tea?

Dong Ding Oolong is one of the most famous teas of Formosa Oolong. The original cultivation area of ​​Dong Ding is very small, but the annual amount produced by Dong Ding is high. This tea was classified according to flavor, taste and aftertaste.

Tea Oriental beauty is one of the most famous of produced in Formosa. Tea got its name in the 20th century, when it was tried by Queen
Elizabeth. She was so impressed by unusual color and aroma of tea, so
she said: "Yes this is the Oriental Beauty!".

Everybody knows that alcohol abuse leads to hangover next day. Typical symptoms are body aches, headache, sickness. All this is due to the influence of acetaldehyde (product of the decomposition of ethanol).

Gaiwan (蓋碗/盖碗) is a special cup with a cover and a saucer for a tea brewing. Volume could be different - usually it is 80-200 ml. Usually gaiwan is made from porcelain, but also could be from glass or clay.

Teahouses have become a distinctive part of Taiwan's culture. People go for the ambience and to have a good cup of tea.

You can find teahouses all over the island. Spending a few hours in pleasant surroundings over a pot of best oolong tea is as easy and every bit as fashionable as finding a cup of coffee in one of the popular coffee shops. Some people go to teahouses for tea, others go just for the ambience.

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival, is a national holiday in Taiwan with the most romantic atmosphere. The holiday takes place during the autumn, when harvest season is over, people thank the gods for the bounty of the year.